5 Breath of the Wild Armor Sets That Could Have Been Better
If there is one thing that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is most known for, it’s the various armor sets that Link is able to wear on his adventure. From the Sheikah that gives him the appearance of the iconic ninja-like clan to the Wild Set that pays tribute to Link’s classic green tunic, each Breath of the Wild armor set offers something different. However, some are better than others, and in a few cases, a lot of them are not very practical if another, better option is available.
It’s not as bad at the beginning of the game, but as you progress, you start to notice how many armor sets just grant the same effect with slight variations. While it’s best to try and switch between different sets depending on the situation you find yourself in, that becomes a bit harder when you have two sets that basically grant the same buff and just have a different name. It doesn’t ruin the game, but it does leave something to be desired; however, many of these sets could be much better with one small change.
This list will go over 5 armor sets in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that could have been much better and how.
The 5 sets for this list include:
1. Tingle Set
The Tingle armor set is easily the most fun of the bunch. Just being able to run around Hyrule in Tingle’s iconic green body suit and tights fighting giant Hinoxes and wielding the Master Sword is a treat in and of itself. It’s especially great in cutscenes. But for all the fun the armor set can make for, in hindsight, it’s not very practical.
With its introduction, there are a total of four armor sets in Breath of the Wild that provide the same exact effect: Night Speed Up. While this is a great and convenient perk, its usefulness is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there are three other sets that do it as well, one of which you can get much earlier in the game. As a result, the Tingle Armor does not really stand out that much as something that has practical application in-game apart from just looking really fun. However, there is one way to make it more unique while also making it line up better with its origin: fairies.
Tingle has always been recognized as “the man who thinks he is a fairy”, so it would only make sense for his armor set to reference that in some way. Since fairies in Breath of the Wild revive Link upon death, one idea is to make it function like a second Mipha’s Grace and make it so that fairies revive all of Link’s hearts upon death instead of some of them, and not provide extra temporary hearts. This would make fairies a lot more useful and fit in perfectly with Tingle’s character.
2. Phantom Ganon Armor
The Phantom Ganon Armor set is probably one of the coolest sets in Breath of the Wild. It not only looks awesome but it’s quite useful as well with providing stealth and increasing the attack of bone-based weapons – or at least it would be if two other armor sets didn’t already do both of those things.
While this effect makes some sense, attacking with bones and being stealthy doesn’t exactly scream Ganondorf, at least in my opinion. Additionally, it’s a bit odd to me that an armor set called the Phantom Ganon Armor has zero association with Ganon himself in a game where he is the primary antagonistic force. Luckily, there is a simple solution to making the armor set more useful, and that lies in malice.
Although malice can be avoided in the places you find it in Breath of the Wild, it’s a bit inconvenient sometimes to find another way around it. Wouldn’t it be better if you could just walk right through it as enemies could? If the Phantom Ganon Armor had that trait – I like to call Incorruptible – it would be a lot more unique and fitting for the King of Evil.
3. Ravio’s Hood
Ravio’s Hood is one of the most fun pieces of armor in the Zelda series. It’s a cute and colorful piece of clothing that distinguishes Ravio’s character quite well, and may even be a not-so-subtle reference to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past in the moment where Link travels to the dark world for the first time and becomes a pink bunny.
But regardless of its lore origins and quirky appearance, the usefulness of Ravio’s Hood in Breath of the Wild is rather limited. While being able to climb sideways faster is helpful in some instances, the Climbing Gear is a set that effectively does the same thing, but better, so most players likely only wear Ravio’s Hood for aesthetic purposes. This is still fine, but there is a simple way to make Ravio’s Hood unique from other armor sets in the game and that is to give an effect that references Ravio’s job as a merchant.
You encounter many merchants throughout Breath of the Wild who provide a variety of wares, and some have items unique to that town or area. Although there are many ways to replenish your Rupees, no one would really say no saving a little money now and then, so giving Ravio’s Hood the simple effect of making items less expensive would have been very helpful. Perhaps it could have even helped players acquire certain purchasable armor sets much easier, which would make the process of collecting every armor in the game much less tedious.
A simple effect, but a fitting one.
4. Lobster Island Shirt
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is one of the most iconic and beloved entries in the series, and it’s easy to see why. From journeying across the never-ending sea and adventures through a variety of islands are so well-done even today, and it offers a unique look for Link that any Zelda fan will recognize right away.
The Lobster Island Shirt is recreated perfectly in Breath of the Wild, and the quest to find it feels like a real treasure quest on its own. The armor already has the subtle effect of increasing your speed when riding a boat with a Korok Leaf, which is perfect, but perhaps a greater association with the wind itself would make the shirt stand out a bit more.
If the shirt also had the ability to increase your paraglider speed, that would make it very useful even when not on the water. While it’s not a necessary perk, it would have functioned well to make the Lobster Island Shirt both stylish and practical.
5. Dark Link Set
Dark Link is one of the most iconic Zelda enemies out there, so it’s no surprise that Nintendo chose to reference it in Breath of the Wild with a full Dark Link armor set. It’s a perfect recreation too, and the way you retrieve it is also quite unique as it can only be bought with Mon from Kilton. However, for as cool as the armor set is, I can’t lie when I say I’ve always found the effect it has to be a little disappointing.
It’s not bad by any means, but considering the fact that both the Sheikah set and the Tingle set have the exact same effect, as well as the fact that said effect doesn’t really reference the whole “monster” aspect of the armor, it’s a bit of a letdown in my opinion. But I think the easiest way to make it better would be to simply make greater reference to its monster association.
Considering that you get it from Kilton, the only way to buy other items from him is with Mon, and the only way to make Mon is with monster parts, why not have an armor set that increases the monster part drop rate? If that’s too simple, it also could have made you more monster-like by increasing your attack when wielding “monster” weapons, like Boko or Moblin Clubs. Since the Radiant set can do the same thing with bone-based weapons, it’s entirely possible.
Either of these would have made the Dark Link set stand out from the rest in some way.
Thank you for stopping by Nintendo Link. What do you think of this Breath of the Wild list? Do you agree? Do you have any other ideas to make some of the armor sets better? Let us know in the comments!
